please make up your mind

[the old girl]

A few years ago before accreditation came in, I was no stranger to filling out credit card applications for the customers, until my BM announced I would "get the sack" if i sign any more up. Needless to say I didn't go near a pack, only handing out leaflets. Now it appears we can again, if requested, actually fill in the form, with no training, for the customers again. Why then all the effort to get some staff accredited a while back, with regular monitoring needed etc. Also, how does it make sense that the sales manager on a visit to the office tells me he is "not allowed" to do a sign up when asked and the FS was already busy doing a life quote for one of my customers?! I thought every sale was precious?....

[bigjames]

A few years ago before accreditation came in, I was no stranger to filling out credit card applications for the customers, until my BM announced I would "get the sack" if i sign any more up. Needless to say I didn't go near a pack, only handing out leaflets. Now it appears we can again, if requested, actually fill in the form, with no training, for the customers again. Why then all the effort to get some staff accredited a while back, with regular monitoring needed etc. Also, how does it make sense that the sales manager on a visit to the office tells me he is "not allowed" to do a sign up when asked and the FS was already busy doing a life quote for one of my customers?! I thought every sale was precious?....

Hmmmm, dodgy ground. As far as I am aware the only occasion you should be filling a Credit Card form in for a customer if you are not accredited is if they can't actually fill it in for themselves, i.e. they can't read, can't see, or are unable to write. There is an agreed process for an accredited person to follow when filling in the form and having the conversation. There are several pages in the application pack that have to be read in their entirety to the customer, this is not a nice thing to do, it is not best practice - It Is the Law!
At the counter you should be introducing the product, mentioning a feature or two that are relevant to the customer, and if they are interested you can then tell them how they can apply. You can tell them that they can apply online, over the phone, by post or by completing a form in branch. You shouldn't be offering to complete the form for them, but you can offer to check the form once they have completed it.
Your sales manager is most likely not accredited, so would have been entirely correct in not signing the customer up for a card, but he could have offered to check the form etc.
Be Careful!

[The BFO]

The above posts seem to quite nicely demonstrate the absurdity of the situation we have gotten ourselves into.